“Why does it seem like every time I take my car in for an oil change I end up with a list of other items that my car needs?”

That is a great question. I realize that time and money both seem to be in short supply now-a-days and when you bring your car in for an oil change what you mostly want is to have the oil changed, be told to have a great day, and feel good that you're doing the right thing for your car.

Well, the good news is you are doing the right thing for your car. Having your oil changed regularly is probably the number one step to insuring a long and healthy life for your vehicle. But, oil alone will not keep your car humming along happily. So, why does an oil change often come with a list of other items? Let’s explore some of those reasons.

The first reason is that a quality repair facility will not just “spill and fill” your oil and send you on your way. Included with the oil change will be a no-charge inspection. As a general rule, all the fluids, drive belts, coolant hoses, exterior lights, exhaust and tires will be inspected.

As a service manager, I tell my co-workers and believe for myself, that if we don’t share with the vehicle owner the results of that inspection; in essence we are stealing from you. That information is yours, how you decide to respond to that information is entirely up to you. We are happy to make suggestions and offer our opinion, but the final decision is up to you.

The second reason is that cars today are more reliable than cars in the past. What that means is that the car owner will experience fewer breakdowns but have more maintenance needs. According to Motorage magazine, 70 percent of money spent on cars will be in maintenance and only 30 percent will be on actual repairs (pg. 110, 8th paragraph, March 2008).

We are aware of this and want to make sure that we are keeping the car owner up to date on maintenance needs in order to reduce larger repair problems down the road. Our recommendations will be based on one or both of two major factors; 1) the actual visible condition of belts, fluids etc.. and/or 2) the manufacture’s recommendation of a time or mileage at which components should be replaced (such as spark plugs, fuel filters, spark plug wires etc..).

The third reason is that a lot of car owners do not, for a variety of reasons, keep up with the recommended maintenance. Often that is because their service provider has not kept them up to date on what is needed.

Each manufacture and each model of car has their own recommendations based on mileage so keeping up with what is needed can be a challenge. We believe, based on our experience that keeping up with preventative maintenance is the No. 1 way to increase the life and reliability of your car.

Therefore, we will remind of these items each time you come in. Our goal is not to harass you but rather, to educate and guide.

The best advice I can give you is to find a service provider with whom you are comfortable, that has access to the information needed to know what your car needs, does a courtesy inspection with each service, and then go there consistently. That allows for the service provider to keep records of what has been done and what will be coming up on your vehicle.

By keeping up to date, you can better budget for what services will be coming up on your car. By consistently going to the same place, you reduce the chance of a shop making an honest mistake of performing a service that was already done elsewhere. Some items are changed by time only and a shop would have a hard time knowing if the service has already been provided.

As a final note, and as a general rule, your service provider is not just trying to get further into your wallet each time you come in. We truly are looking out for the best interests of your vehicle and doing our best to make sure your vehicle lasts as long as it can and is a reliable source of transportation.

Putting off preventative maintenance will often lead to more expensive and inconvenient breakdowns. You have the option of saying yes or no, and also have the option of doing further research on recommendations being made.

Just know that most shops are honest, are interested in building a long-term relationship with you and just want to let you know what they see when they are looking over your car. Most customers do not have a way to nor want to look underneath their car or inspect various components, so when we do, we will let you know what we see.

Thanks and happy motoring.

Ridge McCoy is service manager at Alki Auto Repair and can be reached at ridgealkiauto@comcast.net or 935-8059.